The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters its first road trip of the 2005-06 season with a record of 2-0. Following an 82-59 season-opening victory over the University of San Francisco on Nov. 18, the Gauchos recorded a narrow 67-65 win over the University of San Diego on Nov. 21. UCSB was also unbeaten during the exhibition season, posting wins over UC San Diego and Westmont College.

UCSB Goes 2-0 For Second Time Under Williams
UCSB has opened the 2005-06 season with a perfect 2-0 record. The 2-0 record is the Gauchos' first since the 2001-02 team also opened at 2-0 with victories over Westmont College and San Francisco. The last time a Santa Barbara team opened the season with consecutive victories over NCAA Division I opponents was in 1994-95 when it started the campaign with victories in the long-ago defunct Santa Barbara Classic over Wagner College and Delaware. In 2001-02, the last time the Gauchos went 2-0 against any competition, they lost their third game at USC. The last time UCSB went 3-0 was in 1994-95.

Gauchos Hang-On To Edge San Diego, 67-65
UCSB opened the regular season on Nov. 18 with a surprisingly easy 82-59 home win over the University of San Francisco. The Gauchos didn't have such an easy time of it in their second game, a narrow 67-65 home win over the University of San Diego on Monday night. UCSB jumped out of the gates quickly, taking a 19-7 lead just 10 minutes in, but the Toreros went on a 16-6 run to cut the gap to two, 25-23. The teams traded baskets for much of the remainder of the half, but a lay-up by sophomore forward Chris Devine with just over five seconds to play gave Santa Barbara a 36-30 lead at the break. The Gauchos outscored USD 10-0 to open the second half, taking a commanding 46-30 lead. The Toreros, however, rallied quickly, going on a 15-2 run to cut the lead to three, 48-45, with 10:51 remaining. UCSB increased the advantage to as many as eight points over the next several minutes, but a pair of free throws by San Diego with 3:52 to go tied the score at 60. Sophomore guard Alex Harris and senior guard Cecil Brown, who each scored a team-high 14 points, made key baskets down the stretch. Harris' broke the 60-60 tie with a short jumper, but USD forward Nick Lewis hit a baseline turnaround to knot things at 62-62. Harris then made a driving lay-up to make it 64-62 UCSB. Senior guard Joe See followed a missed Torero shot by making 1-of-2 from the free throw line. Following another USD miss, Brown hit a shot from the free throw line extended to give the Gauchos a 67-62 lead. Lewis cut the edge to 67-65 when he drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key with 20 seconds left. USD then fouled on the inbounds pass, but senior Josh Davis missed both free throws giving San Diego a final chance. The Toreros could not get a shot to fall in the closing seconds and UCSB won 67-65. In addition to his 14 points, Harris added a career-high 10 rebounds. Devine had 11 points and nine rebounds. Ross DeRogatis had 16 points and Lewis added 15 for USD. UCSB made just 16-of-28 free throw attempts in the game.

Possible Starters - Notes
G - Cecil Brown - 14 points against San Diego was eighth-highest total of his career.
G - Josh Davis - Has struggled with his shooting in first two games making just 3-of-16 shots.
G - Alex Harris- Had first double-double of his career vs. USD with 14 points, 10 rebounds.
F -Chris Devine- Made the first three-point shot of his career in win over USD.
F - Cameron Goettsche - Has attempted just five shots in 42 minutes in first two games.

Possible Reserves - Notes
G - Lance Hurdle - Played two minutes and was scoreless against USD.
G - Derek Rasp- Missed exhibition season and first two games with back injury.
G - James Powell - Did not play in first two games. A likely candidate to redshirt.
G - Joe See - Has made 6-of-9 three-point attempts. Missed first 16 attempts last year.
G - Michael Chambers - Did not play in the win over USD.
F - Chidi Ajufo - Had four personal fouls in just eight minutes against USD.
F - Tom Garlepp - Has made all three of his three-point attempts in the first two games.
F - Glenn Turner - Returned from knee injury vs. USD. Had two blocks in nine minutes.
F - Chris Moore- Ineligible until the end of the fall quarter at UCSB.
C - David Massey- At 7-foot-3 his the tallest player in program history. Will redshirt the year.

The Bob Williams FileBob Williams is in his eighth season as the head coach at UC Santa Barbara. Last year his team struggled with injuries and finished 11-18 overall and 7-11 in the Big West Conference. It marked the first time that a Williams-coached UCSB team finished below the .500 mark in league play. During the 2004-05 season, however, Williams became the fifth UCSB coach to record 100 wins. Prior to last season, he had guided the Gauchos to three straight winning seasons, the first time the program accomplished the feat since 1987-88 through 1989-90. In 2002-03, Williams' Gauchos went 18-14 overall and 14-4 in league. The 2002-03 Big West mark earned Santa Barbara its first-ever Big West regular season championship along with a postseason trip to the National Invitation Tournament. Additionally, the success earned Williams his second Big West Coach of the Year award, his first coming after an impressive 1999 campaign. In 2001-02, Williams guided UCSB to its first Big West Conference Tournament Championship ever and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years. Including this season, Williams' UCSB teams have posted a 109-97 (.529) overall record and a 73-47 (.608) record in Big West games. Prior to his arrival at UCSB, he spent eight years at UC Davis and in those eight years, his teams recorded 20 or more wins five times and a 158-76 record. In Williams' final season, the Aggies went 31-2, won the NCAA Division II National Championship and he was named NABC Division II Coach of the Year. Including two seasons at Menlo College, Williams has a record of 298-197 (.602) at four-year schools.

Injury Update
UCSB junior forward Glenn Turner, who missed about three weeks of practice, two exhibition games and the regular season opener against San Francisco, returned in a limited role against San Diego on Monday night. Turner, who suffered a subluxation of his right patella just over three weeks ago, played nine minutes on Monday. The return of Turner shrinks the Gauchos' injury list to one. Sophomore swingman Derek Rasp, the team's leading three-point shooter last season, is suffering from a back injury that has sidelined him for three weeks, including both exhibition games and both regular season games. He will not make the trip to North Carolina and Arizona State and a timetable for his return has not been set. Last season UCSB players missed 125 games because of injuries.

The Opponents
UCSB and the University of North Carolina last met in the 2005 NCAA Championship Game with the Tar Heels posting the win. Actually, UCSB and UNC have never played and it was Illinois that played in the title game last spring. The Gauchos and Arizona State have played. Really. The Sun Devils hold a 5-2 edge on Santa Barbara. The last time the teams met was in the first round of the 1992 National Invitation Tournament when ASU registered a 71-65 win. The last time the teams played in Tempe, Ariz., was in the championship game of the Kactus Klassic in December of 1988 with the Gauchos winning, 88-78.

The Gauchos On The Road
The road was a scary place for UCSB in 2004-05. The Gauchos were 2-13 in true road games last season and 1-1 in neutral site games. After opening the 2004-05 regular season with an overtime win at San Diego State, UCSB rattled-off 11 straight losses away from home. The 11 consecutive road losses was the longest streak since the final two games of the 1995-96 season and the first 10 of the 1996-97 season. The Gauchos' only other road win last season came at Cal Poly.

UCSB Against The ACC
UCSB's game at North Carolina will be the program's first game against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent since Mar. 18, 1988. The last time the Gauchos played an ACC team was in the first round of the 1988 NCAA Tournament when they lost to Maryland, 92-82, in a game played in Cincinnati. That same season, UCSB hosted North Carolina State in Santa Barbara on Dec. 23, 1987, and coasted to a 96-78 victory.

A Balanced Approach To Rebounds
Hey, it's early, but if UCSB can continue to have six players averaging five or more rebounds per game, that would be a good thing. Two games into a season is probably not enough of a sample to judge, but the 2005-06 Gauchos would seem to be a much better rebounding team than the 2004-05 team. Last season UCSB was outrebounded by an average of 4.3 rebounds per game. That was the worst figure ever recorded by a Bob Williams-coached team. Through two games in 2005-06, the Gauchos have outrebounded its opponents by an average of 12.0 rebounds per game. Much of the credit for the rebounding turnaround must go to the team's backcourt. In the opener against San Francisco, Gaucho guards combined for 18 rebounds. On Monday, the backcourt had 21, including a career-high 10 from sophomore Alex Harris. Sophomore forward Chris Devine leads UCSB through two games at 8.0 per game and Harris is second at 7.5. Freshman forward Tom Garlepp is averaging 6.5 per game in just 19 minutes per outing.

The Other Half Of The Equation
Rebounding wasn't the only area of consternation for UCSB coaches in 2004-05. Because of a number of factors, defense was another area of struggle for the Gauchos, but if two games are an indication at all, UCSB has improved in that area as well. Through two games, Gaucho opponents have made just 42-of-118 field goal attempts, 35.6%. After holding San Francisco to a mere 19-of-56, 33.9%, in the season-opener, Santa Barbara limited San Diego to 23-of-62, 37.1%, on Monday night. The Gauchos' first two opponents have actually shot better from beyond the three-point arc, 36.8%, than from inside the three-point line, 35.0%. In four halves of basketball, UCSB has limited its first two opponents to below 40.0% three times, including a low of 26.9% by San Francisco in the first half. The best one-half field goal percentage by a Gaucho opponent was the 40.0% (12-of-30) that USF shot in the second half on Friday night. Despite shooting 40.0% in the second half of the opener, the Dons were outscored by UCSB 48-32.

So Far At Least, Youth Is Served
Through two games, UCSB's top three scorers, top three rebounders and top two in assists are underclassmen. Sophomores Alex Harris and Chris Devine are tied for the team-lead in scoring at 14.0 points per game, while freshman Tom Garlepp is scoring 11.5 per outing. Devine leads the team in rebounding at 8.0, Harris is second at 7.5 and Garlepp is third at 6.5. Devine leads the way in assists with nine (4.5 per game) and Harrris has six (3.0 per contest). Overall, 87 of UCSB's 149 points, or 58.4%, have been scored by freshmen and sophomores.

Life Is Good On The Outside
In the first two games, Santa Barbara has shot significantly better from outside the three-point stripe than inside. After shooting a sizzling 11-of-16, 68.8%, from three-point territory in the opener against San Francisco, the Gauchos made 5-of-14, 35.7%, in the win over San Diego. In two games, UCSB has made 16-of-30 three-point attempts, 53.3%. As for inside the arc, that's a different story. Actually, the story isn't that tragic. The Gauchos have made 34-of-73 two-point attempts, a respectable 46.6%. Either way, added-up, UCSB is shooting 48.5% after two games. Last year, as was the case with almost every statistical category, the Gauchos struggled with their shooting, making just 40.7% overall.

Balancing Act
After just two games in 2005-06, five different Gauchos have scored in double-figures. Two UCSB players, Chris Devine and Alex Harris, scored 10 or more points in both games. In the opener, Joe See (17) and Tom Garlepp (16) also scored in double-digits. In Monday's win over San Diego, Cecil Brown (14) got in on the act.

The Harris Poll: An Upswing
Sophomore guard Alex Harris has put a struggling finish to the 2004-05 season behind him. In the final six games of last season, Harris made just 6-of-37 shots overall, 16.2%, and just 1-of-14 from three-point range. In two games this season, he has averaged a team-leading 14.0 points per game, making 11-of-19 shots overall, 57.9%, and 5-of-8, 62.5%, from three-point range. In Monday night's win over the University of San Diego, Harris registered a career-first. Not only did he produce a personal-best 10 rebounds, he had the first double-double of his career with 14 points and 10 boards. Harris became the first Gaucho guard since the 2002-03 season (Nick Jones) to post a double-double. The 14 points he has scored in each of the first two games ranks as his fifth-highest scoring effort and the five assists he had in the opener against USF tied his career-high. Also, in the season's first game, Harris nailed four three-point shots, one more than his best outing as a freshman.

Brown Bounces BackCecil Brown missed the entire 2004-05 regular season and despite two exhibition tune-ups, he looked somewhat rusty, or perhaps a little nervous, in the Gauchos' season-opening win over San Francisco. Against the Dons, Brown made just 2-of-10 shots, missing both of his three-point attempts, and he scored four points. He did equal his career-high with six rebounds. On Monday night, Brown scored 14 points, the eighth-highest total of his career, on 6-of-12 shooting overall and 1-of-4 from three-point territory. In addition to his solid offensive effort, he made one of the most important shots of the game. Brown scored his final two points with 30 seconds remaining on a jumper from just to the right of the free throw line. The mid-range shot gave UCSB a 67-62 lead and the Gauchos held on for a 67-65 win. Also, in addition to his career-best six-rebound game in the opener, Brown had four rebounds in the win over San Diego, his seventh-highest game ever. In two games, he has had five assists, but the normally sure-handed Brown has also committed seven turnovers in 58 minutes. As a sophomore in 2003-04, he averaged just one turnover every 22.2 minutes of play and once had an 85-minute stretch without a turnover.

Devine Intervention
Despite missing two full seasons with a variety of leg and hand injuries, sophomore forward Chris Devine doesn't seem to be too rusty. In his first non-exhibition game ever, the win over San Francisco, he either led or tied for the team-lead in points (17), rebounds (seven) and assists (six). Although he fouled out in 25 minutes of action on Monday against San Diego, Devine again played well. In game-two of his career, the Eagle River, Alaska native made 4-of-8 shots overall, including the first three-point shot of his career, and he scored 11 points. Devine also added a career-high nine rebounds, three more assists and the first blocked shot of his career. Through two games, he is tied for the team-lead in scoring at 14.0 per game and he leads the team in rebounding (8.0 per game) and assists (4.5 per outing). Devine has made 10-of-17 shots overall, 58.8%, and the three-pointer he drained against San Diego is his only attempt in two games.

The Ironman Looks To Iron Out Shooting Woes
Senior swingman Josh Davis led UCSB in minutes played last year and through two games this season he leads the Gauchos again. In Santa Barbara's 67-65 win over San Diego on Monday night, Davis recorded 35 minutes played, the most by any player this season. While his all-around game has been stellar, Davis has had his problems shooting the ball in the early going. The team's leading returning scorer, he averaged 10.1 points per game in 2004-05, he has scored just seven points through the first two games, 3.5 per game. Davis was just 1-of-10 from the field against San Diego and he has gone 3-for-16, 18.8%, in the first two games. Additionally, he has missed all four of his three-point attempts and he is just 3-of-8 from the free throw line. Despite his shooting doldrums, Davis has averaged 5.0 rebounds in the first two games and he remains the Gauchos' defensive stopper.

That's Garlepp, Not Garlic, And He Doesn't Stink Either
In his first game as a Gaucho, freshman forward Tom Garlepp scored 16 points, the most ever by a UCSB freshman in his debut. He also added seven rebounds. On Monday, he made the most of his 16 minutes of action, making his only field goal attempt, a three-pointer, scoring seven points, pulling-down six rebounds and producing a key blocked shots and a key steal down the stretch of a close game. Garlepp is averaging 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds through two games despite averaging just 19.0 minutes. He ranks third on the team in both scoring and rebounding despite ranking seventh in minutes played. A native of Perth, Australia, Garlepp has made 6-of-8 field goal attempts this season, including all three of his three-point attempts. He has also hit 8-of-9 free throw attempts, including all four on Monday against San Diego.

See-Saw
After a sizzling season-opener that saw him make 5-of-6 three-point attempts and score 17 points, senior guard Joe See struggled in his encore. See made just 1-of-3 shots and 2-of-4 free throws while scoring five points against San Diego on Monday. His only field goal was a three-pointer and he now has six through the first two games. While the six three-pointers through two games may seem modest, it marks a major improvement in the early-going for See. A notoriously slow starter, he not only went 2-for-20 overall from the field through the first three games last season, but he missed all 16 of his three-point attempts. In fact, he did not make his sixth three-point basket in 2004-05 until the sixth game. See's six three-point baskets this season give him 93 in his UCSB career, a figure that moves him into ninth-place on the school's career list. He needs seven to hit 100 and move into eighth-place.

Post Committee
The return of junior forward Glenn Turner following a three-week absence with a right knee injury gives UCSB additional versatility in the post. At least at the outset of the season, it seems as though the Gauchos will be playing a post-by-committee set-up. With all three post players available on Monday, none played more than 21 minutes. Senior Cameron Goettsche, the starter in both games to this point, played 21 minutes in each game. Sophomore Chidi Ajufo played nine minutes in the opener and a foul-plagued eight in game two. Turner missed the first game, but returned for the game against San Diego and logged nine minutes. Combined, the trio has scored 17 points (8.5 per game), produced 16 rebounds (8.0 per game) and blocked four shots (2.0 per game). Prior to injuring his knee, Turner seemed to have won the job at the five spot, but he has yet to reclaim the position since his recent return.

On The Docket
Following its game at North Carolina, UCSB will remain on the road. The Gauchos will not return to Santa Barbara until after they play at Arizona State on Monday, Nov. 28. UCSB concludes a three-game road trip on Saturday, Dec. 3 at Loyola Marymount. The team's next home game will be Wednesday, Dec. 7, when it hosts Pepperdine in a renewal of a long-time non-conference rivalry.